World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #6 Disinformation, Inc.

Terror charges man due in court

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk:80/news/localnews/display.var.1090273.0.terror_charges_man_due_in_court.php

Terror charges man due in court

By Staff Reporter

A MAN arrested after a series of anti-terror raids in Bolton will
appear in
court in Manchester in February..

Omar Altimimi, aged 37, is charged with four offences under the
Terrorism
Act 2000, which relate to allegedly possessing articles and collecting
information for terrorist purposes. Altimimi, of Landsowne Road,
Bolton, is
further charged with one offence under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Another man, Yusuf Abdullah, aged 29, of no fixed address, has been
charged
with one offence under the Proceeds of Crime Act and one offence under
the
Theft Act 1968.

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.1090273.0.terror_charges_man_due_in_court.php#mpubot

They will both appear at Manchester Crown Court on February 8 after
their
case was transferred from the Old Bailey and have been remanded in
custody.

Police arrested the men following raids on eight addresses in Bolton on
June
27.

701 posted on 12/27/2006 12:40:51 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; DAVEY CROCKETT; Founding Father; LucyT

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1758846/posts

The Polonium Diversion
EdwardJayEpstein.com ^ | December 10, 2006 | Edward Jay Epstein

Posted on 12/27/2006 12:16:00 AM PST by GodGunsGuts

702 posted on 12/27/2006 1:02:08 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; milford421

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758763/posts

Man's Hand Blown Off By Explosion (Florida)
Local 10 Miami ^ | Decemberr 26, 2006

Posted on 12/26/2006 6:04:00 PM PST by Shermy

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- A man lost his hand in an explosion Tuesday afternoon, but police haven't yet said what caused the explosion.

Raymond Singleton told Local 10 that he was with his co-worker, Jamie Rich, when he stopped at a store located at 1090 South 56th Avenue in Hollywood. Singleton said that Rich stayed in the truck, which is owned by their company, Dwight Tree Service, while he went inside the store.

Singleton said he heard a loud explosion, and when he ran outside, he found Rich on the ground screaming, "Tie off my hand." Singleton said that he tied a tourniquet on Rich's wrist and called 911.

The explosion blew out the back window of the truck and shattered the windshield. Police have not yet determined what kind of explosive device Rich was holding, but they said that they believe the device was detonated by accident.

Rich was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital. He was also badly burned, but he is expected to survive the incident.

703 posted on 12/27/2006 1:18:12 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; Founding Father; milford421

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1758757/posts

Keith Ellison quotes;December,2006 Bin Laden's FATWA;August,1996
various ^ | 12/26/06 | me

Posted on 12/26/2006 5:21:46 PM PST by mdittmar

Any similarities in "Keith Ellison's" quotes?

Congress' first Muslim lawmaker tells U.S. Muslims to stand up for justice

The following text is a fatwa, or declaration of war, by Osama bin Laden first published in Al Quds Al Arabi, a London-based newspaper, in August, 1996. The fatwa is entitled "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places."

704 posted on 12/27/2006 1:21:21 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

Anti-Americans on the March: Leftist & Islamist radical alliance

http://online.wsj.com/google_login.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Far
ticle%2FSB116563584386345453.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsj

December 9, 2006

Anti-Americans on the March

Inside the unlikely coalition of the U.S.'s sworn enemies,
where Communists link up with Islamic radicals

Hezbollah, Chávez and London's 'Red Ken'

By ANDREW HIGGINS
December 9, 2006; Page A1
WALL STREET JOURNAL

(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)

AYTAROUN, LEBANON -- Ibrahim Sayid was raised a Muslim, but he put
his faith in class struggle, not Allah. He joined the Lebanese
Communist Party at the age of 16. As a medical student in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, he cursed Mikhail Gorbachev as a "traitor" for
jettisoning Marxism.

Today, back in his home village just a few hundred yards from Israel,
Dr. Sayid, 44, still has little time for Islam. He is married to a
Christian and shuns the local mosque, badly damaged when Israeli
troops stormed into Lebanon this summer.

Instead of communism, he has embraced a new cause: Hezbollah, the
militia and social movement rooted in Shiite Islam. The Party of God,
as it is translated into English, is led by turbaned clerics and
aided by the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has ruthlessly
persecuted communists.

"We all have the same goals," explains Dr. Sayid, who now works in a
Hezbollah clinic. The first of these goals is "resistance" against
Israel, which during the summer war battled Hezbollah militiamen just
outside Dr. Sayid's village. He says resistance also has a broader
target: America, its allies in the Arab world and beyond, and global
capitalism.

When the Cold War ended a decade and a half ago with the collapse of
the Soviet Union, Mr. Sayid and others like him around the world
mourned the apparent triumph of U.S. military, economic and
ideological might. Many Americans rejoiced, with some embracing the
theory that the demise of Marxism marked "the end of history," a
period when ideological conflicts would give way to a world united in
acceptance of a model typified by the U.S.

Al Qaeda's attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001
didn't fundamentally alter this conviction. Political Islam was seen
as a grave threat but seemed limited in its appeal by its dependence
on religious zeal. Such assumptions are now under strain as secular
rebels, antiglobalization militants and other strains of revolt rally
to the banner of "resistance" offered by Islamist groups such as
Hezbollah.

Religion, excoriated by Karl Marx as the "opiate of the masses," has
become a great mobilizing force -- even for zealous atheists. The
phenomenon extends beyond the Middle East to Europe, Latin America
and Africa, too. Causes that a few years ago seemed moribund or at
least passé -- socialism, Third World solidarity, strident
anti-Americanism -- have been injected with the fervor, though rarely
the actual faith, of Islamic radicalism.

"We are all here to fight American hegemony," Naim Qassem,
Hezbollah's deputy chief, told hundreds of secular activists from
around the world who gathered last month in a Beirut conference
center. They were there to celebrate his Islamic movement's "divine
victory" over Israel this summer and cheer a broader battle against
America's vision for the world. Mr. Qassem was dressed in flowing
robes and a cleric's turban. Many in his audience wore T-shirts or
badges featuring portraits of Che Guevara, clenched fists and other
emblems of secular radical chic.

Adding to its revolutionary cachet, Hezbollah is now battling to oust
Lebanon's pro-American government. Along with assorted allies, the
Islamist group staged a huge peaceful rally in central Beirut Dec. 1
and is the driving force behind a mass sit-in near the offices of
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, a pro-business former banker. The
protesters, encamped in tents for a week now, vow to stay until the
government falls. Stoking fears the showdown may spiral into serious
violence, Hezbollah has called for another mass demonstration Sunday.

Some of Hezbollah's biggest fans are in Europe. There, the hard left,
demoralized by the collapse of communism, has found new energy,
siding with Islamist militants in Lebanon, in Iraq and in a wider
campaign against what they see as an American plot to impose
unrestrained free-market capitalism.

"We are all Hezbollah now," read posters carried through London this
summer during an antiwar protest march. Earlier, London Mayor Ken
Livingston, once known as "Red Ken," invited a controversial Egyptian
cleric to the British capital, arguing that his views have been
distorted by the West.

In deeply Roman Catholic Latin America, Hugo Chávez of Venezuela has
become the exemplar of a new populism that sees common cause with
Iran and Hezbollah. Mr. Chávez, re-elected in a landslide last
Sunday, has met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad several times
and this summer was given the Islamic Republic Medal, Iran's highest
honor. Amid the rubble of Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah
stronghold, portraits of Mr. Chávez now hang alongside pictures of
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah put them up after Mr.
Chávez denounced President Bush as the devil in a September speech to
the UN. "Gracias Chávez," they say.

Africa, too, is boarding the bandwagon. A summit of the 53-nation
African Union this summer in Gambia featured two special guests: Mr.
Chavez and Mr. Ahmadinejad. Back in Tehran, Mr. Ahmadinejad in
November hosted Zimbabwe's authoritarian Prime Minister Robert
Mugabe, an erstwhile devotee of Mao Zedong. Fulminating against
President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mr. Mugabe said
likeminded countries must "fight against these evil men and their
evil systems."

In the U.S., the principal target for both Islamist and leftist
anger, there has been little sign of any ideological realignment of
the kind seen elsewhere. The anti-American movement overseas poses
scant immediate threat to U.S. pre-eminence. Still, it could
complicate American diplomacy, particularly in the Middle East, where
the Iraq Study Group and others are urging Washington to reach out to
Iran and Syria, both vocal foes. It also risks emboldening America's
many critics in Europe and Latin America, aggravating friction on a
host of issues from the Israel-Palestine dispute to trade.

With America's reputation badly blemished across much of the globe,
widespread anger at Washington's foreign policy is fusing with local
grievances in an unstable mix of discontent. The result is a motley
assemblage rife with contradictions and competing agendas. The
Islamist-led protest movement has none of the central organization
once provided by the Comintern, the body set up by Vladimir Lenin to
coordinate global communism. Nonetheless, it is giving voice and a
sense of common cause to those opposed to America's plans.

Leading the way in embracing it are mostly fringe groups with names
redolent of the 1960s: The Global Peace and Justice Coalition, The
Socialist Workers Party, The League for the Fifth International.
While such outfits are quirky, they "magnify trends in the
mainstream," says Nick Cohen, a British writer who is publishing a
book next year about the alliance between Islamists and leftists,
"What's Left?" Karl Marx, he says, would be horrified.

"The sight of Godless communists in alliance with Islamo-fascists is
one of the wonders of the modern world," Mr. Cohen says.

Mainstream left-of-center parties still generally shun Islamists but
chunks of their support base don't. Mr. Blair in Britain, for
example, has come under fire within his own Labour Party for
supporting President Bush's troubled Middle East policy, which
critics say demonizes Islamist groups. In Spain, the socialist prime
minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has reached out to Muslims,
propounding what he calls "an alliance of civilizations" and voicing
sympathy for Hamas and Hezbollah. He has good relations with Mr.
Chávez, Fidel Castro of Cuba and Bolivia's populist leader, Evo
Morales.

At the Beirut conference last month, a Mexican Marxist denounced
America for "colonizing" New Mexico. A South Korean foe of free trade
raged against American beef. A Turk fumed about American military
bases. A Frenchman denounced American genetically engineered foods
and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. There were even a few
Americans. One thundered against big business, another against the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A big part of Hezbollah's appeal is simply that, unlike other
tarnished icons of revolt, it can point to successes. It has defied
Israel's military, by far the region's most powerful. It prodded
Israel to end its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000 and
unexpectedly bloodied Israeli troops in clashes this summer.

Hezbollah shows that "resistance," whether fuelled by religion or
secular zeal, "can break governments and roll back the American
project," says John Rees, a former editor of the journal
International Socialism and a leader of Britain's anti-Iraq war
movement. Hezbollah, he says, isn't a terrorist outfit but a social
movement seeking better living conditions for its supporters. "It is
better to think of it as an AFL-CIO with guns," he says.

An American who traveled to Beirut in November to cheer Hezbollah,
who identified himself as Bill Cecil, summed up the appeal of
Islamism to non-Muslims: "Your enemy is our enemy; your victory is
our victory," he told a conference. Mr. Cecil, an activist for a
radical group in New York, later appeared as a guest on the breakfast
show of Hezbollah's television station, al-Manar. America, he told a
veiled female presenter, is "not a democracy ... but a dictatorship
of giant corporations." America "needs a government that provides for
the people like Hezbollah helps people here."

Nowhere is the Islamist-leftist axis more potent than in Lebanon. The
three-day Beirut jamboree, which featured fiery anti-American oratory
and field trips to buildings bombed by Israel, was hosted jointly by
Hezbollah and the Lebanese Communist Party, once-bitter enemies now
united by what they proclaim as common goals.

Sitting beneath a portrait of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara in
his Beirut office, Khaled Hadadeh, the general secretary of the
Lebanese communists, admits that Hezbollah and the Communist Party
hated each other for years. "We started out in blood," says Mr.
Hadadeh, a Sunni Muslim by birth but now a firm atheist. Che Guevara,
he says, "is our symbol, like Jesus Christ or Mohammed."

Hostility to Israel and the U.S. now trumps past differences. The
Communist Party disbanded its own armed wing at the end of Lebanon's
civil war in 1990, but 12 of its members died fighting alongside
Hezbollah this summer, Mr. Hadadeh says. Piled in the corner of his
office are trophies of this summer's war: an Israeli army helmet, an
Israeli rifle and a Hebrew newspaper.

Mr. Hadadeh says he has met Mr. Nasrallah 15 times and admires him
greatly. At their most recent meeting in a secret location this fall,
he says, they discussed not just the recent war with Israel but also
the need to develop "a counter-project to the neo-liberal model," the
free-market policies backed by Washington.

Responsible for working out what this might mean is Ali Fayad, a
political science lecturer and head of Hezbollah's in-house
think-tank, the Consultative Center for Studies and Documentation.
Mr. Fayad, who joined Hezbollah in the 1980s while still a student,
now sits on the politburo of an organization that mimics the rigidly
hierarchical structure of the Soviet Communist Party. Israeli bombs
destroyed Mr. Fayad's offices, so his center now works from new
premises in a half-built apartment block. Well-versed in Western
economic and political theory, he runs a staff of more than a dozen
researchers and has led the militant group's outreach to foreign
supporters.

Part of Hezbollah's appeal lies in its tactical flexibility. Unlike
many Sunni Muslim radical groups such as al Qaeda, which denounce
non-Muslims and even many fellow Muslims as heretics who must be
shunned or punished, Hezbollah's Shiite leadership doesn't care if
its allies include atheists, Mr. Fayad says. "That is their problem
not ours," he says, so long as "we have the same political position."

The friction between the two branches of Islam surfaced at the recent
Beirut meeting. A Sunni Muslim from Jordan had to be ejected from the
hall after he started cursing Iran -- Hezbollah's main sponsor -- for
aiding Shiite militias in Iraq. Hezbollah's foreign fans watched in
dismay as Shiite and Sunni attendees screamed at each other.

Despite such volatile tensions, Mr. Fayad still sees Islam derailing
America's ambitions. Hezbollah's success in Lebanon, the debacle in
Iraq and the victories of populist anti-American politicians in Latin America, he says, show that "it is now the end of 'the end of
history.' " A recent article by Richard Haass, former director of
policy planning at the U.S. State Department, has strengthened his
conviction that America is in retreat, Mr. Fayed says. Writing in the
U.S. foreign-policy journal Foreign Affairs, Mr. Haass declares that
America's post-Cold War hopes for the Middle East have failed and
that the region's "American era...has ended." Mr. Fayad is in no
doubt about what comes next: "It is an Islamic era in the Middle East."

Among those grappling with this new perception of reality is Joseph
Samaha, a secular Christian, former radical socialist and one of
Lebanon's most-thoughtful intellectuals. Over the summer he became
editor in chief of Al Akhbar, a new newspaper sympathetic to
Hezbollah. He scoffs at Westerners who cheer radical Islam as
"naïve." But he concedes that Islamists now represent the only viable
alternative to corrupt, authoritarian regimes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia
and elsewhere. "It is sad, but it is like that," he says.

The ideological reshuffling marks a curious reprise: Russia's early
Bolshevik leaders, many of them Jewish, worked hard to cultivate
Muslims, seeing them as a useful ally against Britain and other
European colonial powers then ruling over large Muslim populations,
notably in India and Indonesia. The alliance led to doctrinal
gymnastics as Soviet theorists sought to reconcile atheism with the
Quran. Some even argued that the Prophet Mohammed was a precursor of
Karl Marx.

For much of the 20th century, however, the left and Islam were bitter
enemies. Spain's right-wing dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco,
recruited Moroccan Muslims to fight Soviet-backed foes in the Spanish
Civil War in the 1930s. In 1962, Saudi Arabia, worried by Egypt's
tilt toward Moscow, created the Muslim World League to rally Islam
against communism. Three years later, Islamic groups in Indonesia
joined in an army-led mass slaughter of communists. Anticommunist
fervor reached its peak in the 1980s, when thousands of Muslims
flocked to Afghanistan to battle the Soviet occupiers.

Much the same enmity existed in Lebanon. When Dr. Sayid, the surgeon,
first joined the Lebanese Communist Party in the late 1970s, Mr.
Nasrallah, now Hezbollah's leader, also was getting into politics --
partly out of disgust at the spread of atheistic communism.

In an autobiographical account of his early years published in an
Iranian newspaper, Mr. Nasrallah recounts how his own village was
"turning into an area for the activity of intellectuals, Marxists and
especially supporters of the Lebanese Communist Party." He left the
village and joined a group called Amal, a Shiite organization.

Iran's Islamic revolution of February 1979 and the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan at the end of that year soured communist-Islamist
relations further, provoking often-bloody clashes in Lebanon and
elsewhere.

Iran's new Islamic government launched a brutal crackdown on the
Soviet-backed Tudeh party, a leftist group that had helped topple the
American-backed Shah. And Iran sent Revolutionary Guard zealots to
Lebanon to help set up Hezbollah and injected the new group with
their own fierce enmity to atheism and communism.

Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 accelerated the rise of Islamist
groups. It uprooted Yasser Arafat's secular Palestine Liberation
Organization, which had bases in Lebanon, and left Hezbollah as the
main force of "resistance."

Dr. Sayid moved to Minsk in the then-Soviet republic of Belarus to
study medicine. He says he went there as a true believer and was
appalled when Mr. Gorbachev began his program of "perestroika," or
economic restructuring, and the Soviet system started to unravel. The
reforms, he says, were a "counter-revolution."

In Lebanon, meanwhile, a vicious civil war raged. Moscow put its
weight behind the nominally socialist and mostly secular forces of
Walid Jumblatt, leader of the country's small Druze sect, an offshoot
of Islam. In Dr. Sayid's village and other areas of southern Lebanon,
previously strong support for the Lebanese Communist Party wilted as
Hezbollah became the dominant force. Hezbollah's reputation was
boosted by its fierce resistance to Israel and its provision of
medical care and other services.

In its first public manifesto issued in 1985, Hezbollah declared
itself hostile to "both the USSR and the U.S., both capitalism and
communism, for both are incapable of laying the foundations for a
just society." Though focused on the struggle with Israel, the
manifesto also sought a wider audience, addressed to "all the
Oppressed of Lebanon and the World." Eventually the Lebanese
Communists began cooperating with Hezbollah, attracted mainly by its
power but also finding common cause in its emphasis on championing
the poor.

Amid the unraveling of the Soviet Union, few outside Lebanon paid
much attention to the global pretensions of Hezbollah. Then came the
al Qaeda attacks on America of 2001. Washington, traumatized,
launched a "war on terror" against what it viewed as a small group of
homicidal religious zealots.

As anger at the U.S. mounted in 2003 ahead of the invasion in Iraq,
the snowballing antiwar movement took on a curious aspect,
particularly in Europe: an alliance of forces that previously loathed
each other.

Mr. Rees, the British radical who attended last month's Beirut
conference, played a big role, allying his own organization, the
Socialist Workers Party, with the Muslim Association of Britain, a
group that says it wants to bridge Muslim and non-Muslim communities
yet is accused by critics of siding with radical Islamic groups. The
two organizations spearheaded the antiwar campaign in Britain. Today,
Mr. Rees says he has reservations about some of his Islamic allies'
views, particularly those regarding women and homosexuals.

"If there were a level playing field, I might choose different
allies," he says. But he says America's own policies left him with no
choice: "I find myself on the same side as Hezbollah, as Chávez. I
didn't choose them. America did."

At a big Islamic festival this summer supported by London's mayor,
Mr. Livingston, Islamist activists and left-wing politicians declared
their solidarity. "Muslims and the left must and can come together,
because we face the same enemies -- imperialism, colonialism and
racism," said Redmond O'Neill, a senior aide to Mr. Livingston.

In Aytaroun, the Lebanese village near the border with Israel, Dr.
Sayid, the Soviet-trained physician, has abandoned the socialist
dreams of his youth. Communism, he concedes, "is not going to take
root in this soil."

He has quit the Communist Party and now serves Hezbollah, working at
a Hezbollah hospital bedecked with Islamic inscriptions and portraits
of Iranian ayatollahs. When the war started this summer, his wife, an
Orthodox Christian from Belarus, and three children left for her
homeland. Dr. Sayid stayed behind to treat the injured, including
Hezbollah fighters.

On a recent afternoon, Dr. Sayid sat with a group of Hezbollah
activists in the office of the local mayor, also of Hezbollah. The
mayor was wounded in the leg during the war and Mr. Sayid has been
treating him.

One of the group showed off pictures of Hezbollah's "divine victory"
-- an Israeli tank on its side, an Israeli warship in flames. Dr.
Sayid says he is "not fully in agreement" with Hezbollah. But he
believes it can succeed where communism failed. "It is strong. People
support it." Hezbollah, he says, "shows the world America is wrong."

continued

705 posted on 12/27/2006 1:44:57 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; milford421

Train Derailment Investigation

http://www.newschannel10.com/global/story.asp?s=5859767

12.26.06
Train Derailment Investigation

Right now, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Rail Road is continuing to look
into
what caused four train cars to derail in Amarillo.

The derailment happened Monday morning just south of the 34th overpass.

The Amarillo Fire Department tells NewsChannel 10, degenerated alcohol
spilled from two cars... Temporarily shutting down rail traffic.

Hazardous material units secured the leaking material.

We are told nobody was injured.

706 posted on 12/27/2006 1:46:41 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; Founding Father; milford421

France Joins the U.K. on High Alert

December 26, 2006 2:17 PM

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/

Alexis Debat Reports:

An attack on French soil is likely to happen in the next few weeks or
months, according to a senior French foreign intelligence official, who
said
today that they are on the highest state of alert since 9/11.

This comes amidst news reports of a terrorist plot during the holiday
season
to strike the Channel tunnel, or Chunnel, that runs between London and
Paris.

While a French foreign intelligence service official notes that they
are not
aware of any specific plots or targets, the foreign intelligence
service is
on high alert due to an increasing amount of chatter and information
that is
emanating from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

According to news reports, the Chunnel plot is being put together and
run
out of Pakistan.

While he didn't have any indications that such an attack is imminent,
ABC
News was told by a French foreign intelligence official today that
indeed
Pakistan and Afghanistan are re-emerging as al Qaeda's main training
ground
and that there is increasing "chatter" and intelligence coming out of
those
areas.

The official said "dozens" of Westerners have been trained in North
Waziristan and Afghanistan in the past eight months alone and that some
have
already returned to the West. Most of them were British citizens, said
the
official, but he added there were some Americans and even a few
Frenchmen
who, he said, are still being trained.

continued.....

707 posted on 12/27/2006 1:49:07 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; milford421

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=1&url_article_id=22978&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2

3 killed in plane crash
12/26/2006

By Arielle Kass
Staff Writer
arielle.kass@gwinnettdailypost.com

LAWRENCEVILLE — At least three people were killed in a Christmas Day plane crash, and firefighters were searching for other possible passengers late Monday.
Lt. Craig Stanley, spokesman for the Gwinnett County Fire Department, said one man and two women were killed when a twin-engine Chancellor Z-414 airplane crashed in a dirt parking lot near the county’s Briscoe Field about 8:40 p.m.
The three passengers were ejected from the plane at the CWM Contracting Co.’s plant 28 near the intersection of U.S. Highway 29 and Boulderbrook Circle in Lawrenceville, Stanley said. He did not know if there had been other passengers on the plane, which he said could hold 10 people.
“There was a fire, obviously a lot of wreckage, a lot of debris in the area,” Stanley said.
Stanley said the plane’s male pilot had radioed to the airport’s air traffic control tower to confirm his approach and had intended to land at Gwinnett County Airport at Briscoe Field. The air traffic controller called 911 after seeing an orange glow in the distance, Stanley said.
“The air traffic controller no longer saw him on the radar,” he said.
The plane originated from Pembroke Pines, Fla. It was traveling from the east.
A wheel from the plane was visible among the debris, and Stanley said it appeared as if the plane had hit some construction equipment at the crash site.
Stanley said the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified of the crash, but would not arrive at the scene until today. A copy of the plane’s flight plan had been filed with the agency, he said.
Stanley estimated that the plane had landed 75 yards from the airport’s runway. He said there had not been any sort of distress call before it crashed.
The victims had not been identified as of press time Monday, and Stanley said he did not know their ages or if they were from the area.
“Certainly, events of this nature are tragic,” he said. “That’s especially true on Christmas.”

708 posted on 12/27/2006 2:17:51 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; milford421

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=police4_dec27_2006

Army head ruffled by rough takeoff

A military light plane with five passengers and two crewmembers, including Army commanding officer Brig. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, had a brake malfunction during takeoff at the Manila domestic airport yesterday.

The terminal control tower received an emergency assistance call from Pilot Maj. Alex Aduca that their Cessna 421 RP-C421 busted its brake while taxiing at runway 06.

The twin-engine plane that was owned and operated by the Armed Forces was cleared to leave for Naga City at 7:50 a.m. for relief operations in the Bicol peninsula.

Manila International Airport Authority duty safety officer Andro Laxina said the fire and rescue team, along with the safety patrol group rushed to the stalled military plane which was towed to the hangar.

The five on board, all military officers, were stunned but unhurt.

Tolentino switched to another plane and proceeded as scheduled.

Despite the mishap, no other flights were delayed. Vito Barcelo

709 posted on 12/27/2006 2:23:08 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; milford421

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news1_dec27_2006

25 shoppers perish in Christmas blaze

TWENTY-FIVE Christmas shoppers were killed, including a pregnant woman and two babies, when fire swept through a packed store in Ormoc City, the Office of Civil Defense said yesterday.

The fire struck the Unitop General Merchandising Store in Ormoc, some 550 km southeast of Manila, on Monday when the predominantly Catholic Philippines was celebrating Christmas Day.

Initial reports said a “tracer bullet toy gun” fired by a shopper hit a pile of firecrackers sold at the store and caused the seven-hour fire, Ormoc police chief Manuel Cubillo said.

Another report said a customer lit a firecracker to test it, and the blast triggered the explosion of a pile of firecrackers.

But Cubillo said the fire department had yet to confirm the reports for appropriate action.

“We’re not rushing things,” he told a television interview. “We have to be careful in order to determine the criminal liability of the department store’s management.”

It appeared that the store was selling mostly products from China and Taiwan but was not licensed to sell firecrackers, which are traditionally used to greet the New Year.

The fire quickly engulfed the front portion of the store, trapping panicked shoppers, Cubillo said.

He said 25 people died in the fire, including a pregnant mother and her four-year-old son. The Office of Civil Defense in Manila said the casualties included two babies.

The bodies were recovered by firefighters inside the store’s toilet, where the victims had sought safety.

Nine others were said to have been injured in the fire and are being treated in hospital.

Ormoc City Mayor Eric Codilla said he had ordered authorities to investigate the tragedy. AFP and Florante S. Solmerin

710 posted on 12/27/2006 2:26:06 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; Founding Father; milford421; DAVEY CROCKETT

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news2_dec27_2006

Reds mark 38th year, promise more attacks

COMMUNIST rebels marked their 38th founding anniversary yesterday with a vow to topple President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo through increased attacks and by fomenting dissent within the military.

George Madlos, a spokesman for the political front of the Communist Party of the Philippines, said the armed unit of the group was told to “sustain and intensify” guerrilla warfare.

“We want a sustained offensive against the Arroyo regime,” Madlos said from his mountain base in Mindanao. “We have already frustrated her all-out war against the left.”

In a statement released yesterday, the CPP also ordered its armed wing, the New People’s Army, to execute those behind the spate of political killings that have targeted leftist activists.

The communists accuse Malacañang and the military of being behind death squads that have killed more than 800 activists since 2001.

The government has denied these charges and said many of the activists were killed in communist purges.

NPA guerrillas launched 400 tactical offensives against troops the past year, a 200 percent increase year-on-year, Madlos said.

The communists also rejected reciprocating the government’s Christmas and New Year’s ceasefire, Madlos said, adding the rebels would remain on a defensive footing.

He said CPP-NPA leaders were continuing to seek links with disgruntled members of the Armed Forces as a way of toppling the Arroyo administration.

In February, President Arroyo crushed a coup attempt by military officers allegedly in conspiracy with the rebels. Some 28 Marine and Army officers, including two generals, are now under courts-martial for the failed coup.

“We don’t want just a coup d’etat. We want a revolutionary change and to overhaul this government,” Madlos said. “We are talking with different sectors of the military, different levels of officers, also including the police forces,” he said.

Last week, Mrs. Arroyo called on the military to deploy more forces in communist-infested areas next year to crush the insurgency by 2010.

She also assured the Armed Forces of more military hardware in 2007, including spy planes that would help them track down the Abu Sayyaf and other terrorist organizations.

“It is only under a state of peace that we can successfully implement our reforms,” the President said. Florante S. Solmerin, Joyce Pangco Pañares, AFP

711 posted on 12/27/2006 2:28:15 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; DAVEY CROCKETT; Founding Father; milford421

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news3_dec27_2006

Cops offer protection to killers of Bersamin

By Romie A. Evangelista

POLICE yesterday vowed to protect the killers of Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin from being rubbed out by their employer if they surrender.

“They would be safer with us ,” said Chief Supt. Magtanggol Gatdula, referring to Freddie Dupo, Dominador Barbosa and Sunny Taculao, the three men identified by Rufino Panday as his companions in Bersamin’s assassination.

Bersamin and his police escort were shot dead on Dec. 16 as they left a Quezon City church. After tracing him to the getaway motorcycle, police arrested Panday, who said Abra Gov. Vicente Valera offered them P5 million to kill the congressman, a political rival.

Valera has denied the charge.

Director Jesus Versoza, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the killers had reason to fear for their lives.

He pointed to two Army intelligence officers in Abra who were ambushed after they defied an order to kill another of the governor’s political rivals. Army Cpl. Antonio Rosqueta was killed, while Cpl. Eduardo Barcelona survived and accused Valera of bankrolling the aborted assassination.

“There is a strong possibility that Dupo, Barbosa and Taculao may suffer the same fate,” Versoza said.

And while Valera has denied the charges against him, he has snubbed a police invitation to answer questions on Bersamin murder.

He urged the governor to make a statement to the police instead of airing his side through the media.

Earlier this week, Panday, who confessed to serving as the lookout during the assassination, said he feared for the lives of his three companions, all of them his nephews.

Gatdula said Panday surrendered to police because he felt safer in custody.

“I was fearing for my life because I know how Gov. Valera operates,” Gatdula quoted Panday as saying.

He said the police could not file a murder case against the governor yet because no one had corroborated Panday’s charges.

The task force formed to capture Bersamin’s killers yesterday said 10 people were part of the plot, and included Valera as one of the suspects.

The National Bureau of Investigation is also looking at the same group of hired assassins as suspects in the killing of three Abra mayors.

In Bersamin’s hometown of Bangued, Abra, police laid out an elaborate security plan to prevent violence from breaking out during today’s burial of the murdered congressman.

Troops and police will line the route of the funeral procession, according to officials.

National Police Chief Oscar Calderon, who flew to Abra yesterday to assess the security situation there, said security forces had been ordered to ensure the safety of those paying their last respects today. With Jaime Pilapil

712 posted on 12/27/2006 2:34:15 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; milford421

http://www.wjactv.com/news/10611509/detail.html

Breaking News: Plane Crashes at Johnstown Airport
Witnesses say plane is destroyed

POSTED: 4:57 pm EST December 26, 2006
UPDATED: 6:33 pm EST December 26, 2006

A small plane en route to New Jersey crashed at an area airport Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a Cessna 414, registered to Wharf Place LLC in Morgantown, West Virginia, crashed at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport just before 4pm.

Two people were on board, the pilot and a passenger, but no identities have been released.

Crash witnesses say the plane was flying low before going back up into the air and then crashing onto the runway.

The airport is closed pending the FAA investigation. It is not known when flights will resume.

Tune in to Channel 6 News at 11 for the latest on this developing story.

Copyright 2006 by WJACTV.com.

713 posted on 12/27/2006 2:37:31 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; milford421

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061226/NEWS04/612260378/1024/NEWS04

Article published Dec 26, 2006
Two men in custody after shooting at mall

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — Two men were in custody Monday after a shooting at a crowded mall that left one man dead and sent hundreds of Christmas shoppers running for cover, police said.

Jesse Cesar, 21, of Lake Worth, was charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.

Cesar fatally shot Berno Charlemond, 23, at the Boynton Beach Mall, north of Miami, on Sunday afternoon, Police Lt. Jeffrey Katz said. Cesar fled, firing at police as he led them on a chase through the mall, Katz said. Officers did not return fire and no one else was injured.

SWAT team members arrested Cesar after he barricaded himself in part of a Dillard's store and refused to surrender when officers contacted him through the public address system, Katz said.

Fregens Daniel, 20, of Boynton Beach, also was arrested and was charged with acting as principal accessory in the case, Katz said.

Bond has not yet been set for Cesar and Daniel, and it was not immediately known whether either had an attorney.

Police did not disclose the number of shots fired. A motive for the shooting has not been determined, but Katz said Charlemond, of Boynton Beach, was arrested a month ago at the same mall for carrying a concealed weapon.

"We're still ironing out the details of the case, piecing things together," he said.

Agate Alphonse said she was on her way to a shoe store when she said she passed a group of 10 to 15 people punching and grabbing each other. A few moments later, shots rang out.

"Some people got down. Some people ran," said Alphonse, who crouched on the ground with other shoppers and later ran out of the mall.

A mall spokesman, Sam Yates, said the shooting occurred outside of a store. The mall was evacuated and remained closed the rest of the day.

Elsewhere, two shootings occurred at malls in North Carolina over the weekend.

A man was charged with attempted murder Sunday after a shooting a day earlier at a Greensboro mall packed with shoppers. One man was critically wounded by gunfire at the Four Seasons Town Centre on Saturday.

And one man was slightly wounded at Charlotte's Eastland Mall on Friday evening when an argument between two groups of men ended with one firing through glass entrance doors. No arrests were made.

714 posted on 12/27/2006 2:45:01 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; DAVEY CROCKETT

'New charges' for Russian tycoon
Jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky is facing new charges of money-laundering, his lawyer says.

Yury Shmidt told the Interfax news agency that the prosecutor-general's office had informed the defence team of the new charges.

Mr Khodorkovsky, the former chairman of Yukos, has been transferred to a prison in the town of Chita, eastern Siberia.

He has been serving an eight-year term at a penal colony in Krasnokamensk, in the Chita region.

He was jailed for fraud and tax evasion and has had several spells in solitary confinement.

Mr Khodorkovsky built up a multi-billion-dollar fortune before falling foul of the authorities. He was arrested in 2003 along with his business associate Platon Lebedev.

Mr Shmidt told Interfax that Mr Lebedev had also been transferred to the prison in Chita. He had been serving his sentence in Kharp, in the far north of Russia.

Critics accused Mr Khodorkovsky of exploiting Russia's natural wealth for personal gain.

His supporters say the case against him was politically motivated and he is paying the price for his political ambitions.

Mr Khodorkovsky and Mr Lebedev were facing the possibility of release in 2008-2009 - but that appears unlikely now that new charges are being laid against them.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6211675.stm

Published: 2006/12/27 10:14:40 GMT

© BBC MMVI

715 posted on 12/27/2006 2:54:12 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; Velveeta; DAVEY CROCKETT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/27/newsid_2545000/2545949.stm

[Do we ever hear about this terror attack in 1985]

1985: Gunmen kill 16 at two European airports
At least 16 people have been killed and more than 100 injured during simultaneous twin terrorist attacks at Rome and Vienna airports.

Gunmen opened fire on passengers queuing to check-in luggage at departure desks for Israel's national airline, El Al.

The attacks were indiscriminate and started within minutes of each other at about 0815 GMT today.

No group has yet admitted carrying out the attacks.

At least 13 people were killed, three of them gunmen, after six men, described by witnesses as being of Arab origin, fired bullets at travellers waiting in the main departure hall at Rome's international airport.

Chaos broke out during what is reported to have been a five minute attack as passengers fell to the floor for cover.

Italian police returned fire as bullets rang out across the concourse leaving a trail of blood and broken glass.

Some unconfirmed witness reports describe having heard two "bombs" explode before the gun fire.

Warnings

Two gunmen, in their twenties and of Arab origin, were captured alive.

One of them was taken to a military hospital for surgery and a third attacker is said to have escaped.

In similar scenes in neighbouring Austria, three gun men threw four hand grenades into crowds of passengers queuing to check-in for a flight to Tel Aviv.

It is understood they then pulled out Kalashnikov submachine guns as Austrian police returned fire.

They escaped by car but were pursued by police who opened fire.

One of the men is reported dead, the other two were severely wounded and eventually surrendered to police.

It comes amid reports airport authorities received warnings Arab militant groups were planning a pre-Christmas terrorist campaign at terminals across the world.

Security at London's Heathrow Airport has been stepped up with Israel's El Al planes currently grounded.

Extra police surveillance at check-in desks has been mounted while special branch officers are "mingling" with the crowds.

Granny's note:

At the bottom of this page is a drop down thingy, you put in the date and it will give you the top news, this has other reports and a video on this page......

716 posted on 12/27/2006 3:01:59 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; milford421

Vandalism causes rail disruption
Police are hunting the vandals behind a fire which has caused disruption to rail services in Scotland and across the border to Carlisle.

The blaze, discovered at about 2000 GMT on Christmas Day, caused severe damage to the Kilmarnock Signalling Centre.

First ScotRail said services passing through the Ayrshire town would be disrupted for several days.

British Transport Police have appealed for information about the fire, which is thought to have been deliberate.

First ScotRail said passengers could expect cancellations, delays and short-notice changes.

Normal service

While normal services will operate between Glasgow Central and Kilmarnock, the fire led to the cancellation of services between Kilmarnock and Dumfries.

Buses will be provided for passengers on that route and for those travelling between Dumfries and Carlisle and between Kilmarnock and Ayr.

There should be a normal service between Ayr, Girvan and Stranraer.

Virgin Trains and GNER, which both operate intercity services between England and Scotland, said none of their routes would be affected by the fire at the signalling centre.

We will be doing everything we can to get services back to normal as soon as possible
David Simpson
Network Rail

Customers have been advised to contact National Rail Inquiries before travelling.

British Transport Police urged anyone with information about the fire to come forward.

David Simpson, route director for Network Rail in Scotland, said: "This deliberate act of vandalism has virtually destroyed the signalling centre and will mean disruption for passengers in and around Kilmarnock.

"Network Rail will work closely with British Transport Police to apprehend those responsible and we will be doing everything we can to get services back to normal as soon as possible."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6210657.stm

Published: 2006/12/27 10:13:35 GMT

© BBC MMVI

717 posted on 12/27/2006 3:08:22 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; Founding Father

Israel spies at odds on Syria peace feelers

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=124589&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17

Israel spies at odds on Syria peace feelers
Published: Wednesday, 27 December, 2006, 09:31 AM Doha Time

JERUSALEM: Israelis are puzzling over the prospect of peace with Syria
after their two foreign intelligence agencies gave dramatically
different assessments of recent diplomatic overtures from Damascus.

While the Mossad spy service said Syrian President Bashar Assad had no
genuine interest in peace talks, Israel’s Military Intelligence said
it believed Assad was ready to negotiate if this leads to the return of
the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Assad has repeatedly signalled an interest in rapprochement since
Israel’s war in Lebanon with Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas.

Past talks have run aground over the Golan, which Israel captured from
Syria in a 1967 war. But Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said in
a US newspaper interview this month that new negotiations could be
"without preconditions" on the Golan.

The messages elicited a mix of hope and suspicion in the Jewish state,
stoked by the very government agencies charged with interpreting them.

Mossad chief Meir Dagan last week accused Assad of trying to distract
from Western scrutiny on his regional alliances.

"Every time international pressure is applied, Assad puts on the same
show of willingness to enter negotiations with us," a political source
quoted Dagan as telling cabinet ministers. "But I still don’t see
Syria offering to resume talks with Israel."

Yet the chief analyst for Israel’s Military Intelligence, Brigadier
Yossi Baidatz, took a more upbeat tone.

"Syria is interested. Its overtures, predicated on the overall
objective of recovering all of the Golan Heights, are genuine," Baidatz told
Israeli lawmakers on Monday, according to an official account of the
briefing.

The conflicting attitudes made headlines in Israel and drew exasperated
critiques from some seasoned ex-spies.

"Maybe we should get the Mossad and Military Intelligence chiefs
together in a room, so they can reach agreement?" said Danny Yatom, a retired
army general and former Mossad director.

A veteran of both agencies suggested the disagreement came down to
views about the future.

"I suspect what we have here is a dispute between strong personalities
on whether Assad is strong enough domestically to deliver a peace deal
that will last," said retired intelligence analyst Matti Steinberg. –
Reuters

718 posted on 12/27/2006 3:59:04 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; milford421

Fireworks! Ted A320 Suffers Compressor Stall, Engine Fire

Plane Returns To Gate Safely
It probably looked a lot worse than it actually was, especially to
passengers. In any case, emergency workers quickly put out an engine
fire
onboard a United Airlines (Ted) Airbus A320 as it taxied for takeoff
Tuesday
morning from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

None of the 138 passengers onboard the short-haul airliner were
injured,
said KFLL spokesman Steve Belleme. In fact, passengers remained on the
aircraft throughout the ordeal, and returned to the gate aboard the
plane.

The incident did shut down the main runway at the airport for about 20
minutes, Belleme added.

United Airlines spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said fire shot out of one of
the
twinjet's engines due to a compressor stall.

Compressor stalls are a relatively common and benign occurence. The
phenomenon is caused by disrupted airflow into the plane's engine(s).
The
effect on the blades of a turbofan is similar to an aerodynamic stall
on a
plane's wing.

"It's similar to when a car backfires," McCarthy said.

Passengers onboard the flight to Washington, DC were put on other
flights.
Maintenance crews will inspect the engine before the plane is returned
to
service.

FMI: www.united.com
aero-news.net

Lion Air Boeing 737 skidds off runway at Makassar

A Lion Air Boeing 737-400 skidded off the runway at Makassar, Indonesia.
Flight JT 792 carried 156 passengers and six crew. The airplane skidded
at
about 20:35 local time on runway 31, which remained closed for four
hours.
The airplane reportedly suffered damages to the right main landing
gear,
left wing and both engines. (The Jakarta Post)
aviation-safety.net

719 posted on 12/27/2006 4:02:29 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

To: All; milford421

Oakland-Bound Jet Lands After Hitting Birds

(AP) LONG BEACH Officials say a JetBlue airliner is back on the ground
Tuesday at Long Beach Airport after hitting birds on take-off.

The plane returned to the airfield because of concerns about damage to
one
of its engines.

An Federal Aviation Administration spokesman says Flight 244 from Long Beach
to Oakland landed without incident.

Authorities say the pilot reported hearing a loud sound when the plane
took
off at about 11 a-m this morning, and he made the decision to return.
The
jet landed about a half-hour later.

Officials say bird matter was found on the airfield.

Smokes Fills Cabin In Jet, Forcing Landing At Nashville Airport

Nashville (AP) -- Nashville airport officials say smoke filled the
cabin of
a regional jet Monday night, forcing an emergency landing 30 minutes
after
takeoff from Nashville International Airport.

Airport spokeswoman Lynne Lowrance said American Eagle Flight 5383, a
two-engine, 50-seat jet carrying 13 passengers and crew, was headed to
Saint Louis when the left engine started to burn oil.

The smoke was probably sucked inside the plane's cabin through an air
intake.

Lowrance said the 10 passengers and three crew members landed safely
and
were and taken by bus to the main terminal.

The pilot and co-pilot were taken to a local hospital for symptoms of
smoke
inhalation, Lowrance told the Tennessean. One passenger also complained
of
not feeling well after the flight.

Plans were being made Monday night by airport officials to get the
remaining
passengers to Saint Louis on another flight.

[unknown url, from a newsletter]

720 posted on 12/27/2006 4:04:18 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)

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